A steep decline in apprehensions of unaccompanied immigrant children and teens on the southwest border should mean fewer will be relocated to Georgia and other states in the coming months, a top Obama administration official told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday.
“Fewer should be going anywhere,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, who was in Atlanta to speak at the Airports Council International North America annual conference.
Kerlikowske attributed the drop in arrests to several factors, including climbing summer temperatures and the Obama administration’s enforcement efforts. At the same time, he warned more could come as temperatures fall in the Rio Grande Valley.
“Fortunately, we are in a much better position now,” said Kerlikowske, who was sworn into office this year to oversee an agency with 60,000 employees and a $12.4 billion budget. “We redeployed several hundred Border Patrol agents to the Rio Grande Valley.”
He also pointed to several facilities the government has opened to hold the children in Texas. “Even though they are not utilized as much right now, very quickly they could be spun up to detain people.”
The U.S. Homeland Security Department released statistics Monday, showing apprehensions of unaccompanied juveniles peaked in June this year at 10,622. The total plummeted to 5,501 in July before falling again to 3,141 last month.
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